Mac Player for Sony’s LocationFree Coming Soon

A software player for Sony’s LocationFree system that is compatible with Apple Computer’s Mac OS X is under development by Tokyo-based Kaga Electronics and should be available soon, Kaga Electronics said Tuesday.

The company, which sells products under the Taxan brand name, has licensed LocationFree technology from Sony and intends to unveil its first software player in the middle of May, said Atsuhiro Takizawa, a spokesman for the company. The player will be available both in Japan and overseas, he said.

LocationFree is a Sony-developed technology platform that streams a live video signal from a base station to a hardware or software client. Users often employ the device to watch satellite or cable television broadcasts via their mobile device when away from home. Through the system, users are able to access and watch their living-room video devices as long as there is a broadband connection between the base station and client.

The system at first required the use of a dedicated hardware player that resembled a tablet PC, although the latest base station, the LF-PK1 that was launched last year, can be accessed from a software player running on either a Windows PC or PlayStation Portable. Earlier this year, Sony licensed the technology to Japan’s Access with a view to development of players for cell phones and PDAs. The new agreement with Kaga Electronics fills the Apple gap in the potential market.

Sony said it will increase licensing of LocationFree in the future to expand the number of compatible products.

-Martyn Williams, IDG News Service

Check out our CIO News Alerts and Tech Informer pages for more updated news coverage.